


Human Traditions I

by Greenisher



Series: The rewards of being loved [5]
Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Amity Blight Needs a Hug, And Hooty shall hug her, Eda Clawthorne Adopts Luz Noceda, F/F, Gay Disaster Amity Blight, Good Parent Camila Noceda, Good Siblings Edric & Emira Blight, Gus is the best boy, Incorrect Human Facts Brought To You By The Boiling Isles (The Owl House), Lilith Clawthorne is working on it, Mentor Eda Clawthorne
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 02:27:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29428812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Greenisher/pseuds/Greenisher
Summary: "Mother day! It haunts me!" Gus held up one of those human magazines he seemed to be able to get his hands on. Did he get those from Eda? "Look! All of these articles! All about giving gifts and deference to Mother! I need to know, do humans all pay tribute to some larger mother figure? What is going on here! What is this day?!"--OR, Gus conscripts Amity into his human research pals team. And Amity and Luz talk about their mothers. A mistake, truly.
Relationships: Amity Blight & Gus Porter, Amity Blight/Luz Noceda
Series: The rewards of being loved [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2119710
Comments: 12
Kudos: 162





	Human Traditions I

**Author's Note:**

> A lot of this contains my theories for Odalia based on the tiny screenshot we have of her from the finale. Let's see how wrong I am when S2 comes out! (I hope I'm wrong)

In a corner of the quad Luz and co had set up their lunch. Amity had come to join them, eating the sandwiches Ed had packed for her (her parents were somehow still gone), and then flopping to the ground and putting her head on Luz's lap. Luz had only supposed to be here for the summer, but summer had ended, and the new year had passed. That increased the odds of her staying forever, which made Amity very happy. Luz was talking to Gus and Willow, her voice carrying, the words lost in the wind. She could hear Willow agreeing thoughtfully to something, could feel Luz's fingers running through her undercut, could feel Gus...poking her face?

"When did you get less scary?" He was asking her. 

"I'm still scary," she insisted. Luz rubbed her hair and she stretched out her legs, content. "I don't need to scare  _ you _ right now."

"Am I supposed to be terrified by purring?" He poked her again. Amity rose up like a vampire from the crypt into an upright sitting position, grabbing the front of Gus's cowl. "Wait! No! Let me live! I'm just jealous! I  _ wish _ I could purr!"

"You mean it's not a usual witch thing?" Luz asked, one arm thrown around Amity's torso to restrain her, the other attempting to remove her fist from Gus's shirt.

"There's a lot of diversity in our genes," Willow explained, helpfully pulling Gus back to free him. "That's why we don't all have the same numbers of eyes and limbs. Some of us purr, some have fur, some of us have tails--" 

"I do not have a tail," Amity said, as Luz gave a searching look at her back.

"The real constant is the ears and the bile sack," Willow finished with a smile.

" _ So _ cute," Luz breathed. She hugged Amity from behind, which made her drop her grip on Gus's cowl, face flushed. "Qué Linda!"

"Can you teach me how to purr?" Gus asked, rubbing his chin.

"I don't even know when I'm doing it," half-truth. Amity covered her face with a hand.

"You used to do it a lot when we had nap times as kids," Willow added with a little grin. Oh, she knew what she was doing. "Maybe you're just comfortable."

" _ I've never been comfortable in my life _ ." Embarrassing. Amity rubbed her face. Behind her, Luz kissed the back of her head. 

"I'm glad you feel comfy with me," she told her, voice so warm. "I feel comfy with you! I feel comfy with all you guys," she added to Gus and Willow. "We're great friends!"

"And girlfriends," Willow added. Amity stared at her through her fingers as Luz hugged her back. 

Gus was leaning back, running his fingers through his hair. He had nice hair, Amity thought. He was adorable. She was never going to let him know she thought he was adorable. "When did you and Luz start getting along, anyway? The Otabin incident? I noticed a significant drop in meanness around that time."

"Yeah," Luz rested her chin on Amity's shoulder. "Ed, Em and me broke into the library and accidentally changed Otabin and he was conjured out of the book as a big monster who wanted to sew us up into his book forever. But we fixed him together!"

It had been hard facing her childhood best friend like that, even if he was from a book. Her fingers curled around Luz's. She'd said something to him, hadn't she? That desperate plea:  _ I know you're not like this! Somebody changed you! _

Luz holding Otabin as he turned back. Luz's hand on her own now. Much to think of.

The bell screamed loud enough for them to hear, and Luz jumped up, excited. "Plants! Oh I can't wait! I've got so many little leafy babies! Willow, you can come help me water them, right?"

"Sure!" Willow nudged Gus with her foot, and nodded at Amity. "You two have a free period now, right? Maybe you ought to stick together."

"I have plans-" Amity tried to say.

"Great idea!" Gus spoke over her. As Willow and Luz left, he turned to her. His face deeply solemn, sombre, dark, he grabbed her arm. "I need your help."

"What."

"Help me Amity Blight! You're my only hope."

"What?" Amity asked, unpeeling his fingers from her arm one by one. 

"I need your help," Gus said, gravely.

"With what?" Homework, no doubt. Pranking the twins? Potentially. 

" _ Anthropological research _ ."

"What?" Oh. Oh no. "Gus. Is this Human research?"

"I am an expert," Gus stroked an invisible beard. "But I still have gaps in my knowledge. But you! With your position in a relationship with a human, you can help me iron those out!"

"Uh." That was worrying. "I'm not sure I can. A lot of what Luz does is a mystery to me."

"Yeah, me too," Gus admitted. "But! I bet you can interview her for me!"

"You could also interview her."

"I'm not allowed to interview anyone from The Owl House. On pain of being baked into a pie."

"Should I ask why or…?"

"Long story. But!" Gus leaned in. "I can pay you in illusory magic. Three hours, one illusion!"

"The twins are in the illusion track too. Why wouldn't I just ask them for any magic I need?"

Gus pointed to the other side of the quad where Ed and Em appeared to be doing a hand puppet recreation of their Slitherbeast incident to a small crowd. "Do you want them to blab the reason you need illusions all over school or do you want me to keep your secrets? I keep tonnes of secrets! I even know who Willow has a crush on!  _ It's not who you'd expect! _ It's-"

"You make a good point," Amity admitted, cutting her off. "And I could use a body double. For something." 

"Ask and ye shall receive! Whenever you need it!" Gus did a little bow to her. Amity managed to keep down the urge to curtsey back. Damn you, etiquette training. "All I ask is for one thing: I want to know what a mother day is."

"What."

"Mother day! It  _ haunts _ me!" Gus held up one of those human magazines he seemed to be able to get his hands on. Did he get those from Eda? "Look! All of these  _ articles _ ! All about giving gifts and deference to  _ Mother _ ! I need to know, do humans all pay tribute to some larger mother figure? What is going  _ on _ here! What is this day?!"

Amity squinted at one of the articles that was titled FLOWERS FOR MOMMY. Unsettling. "I'll ask Luz. If it's something really weird, I get use of your illusion for another hour longer than previously agreed upon."

"The lady drives a hard bargain!" Gus held out his hand and they shook on it. "Three hours for the info, four hours if it's weird."

"Alright," she folded her arms, leaning over to take a look. "Any clues?"

"Maybe humans are all born from the same mother?" Gus suggested.

"No," Amity shook her head. "Luz has talked about having her own mother. Well...not much. But I don't think she shares a mother. She's said she's an only child."

"Curious," Gus said. "Do you know if she celebrates this mother day? Maybe it's only regional?"

"The human world can't be  _ that _ big," Amity told him, arms folding. 

"It's pretty big! I've seen a human atlas. There's like more than ten islands. Like this!" He took out a homemade map. "Drew this in kindergarten!" A series of green crayon-coloured shapes on a blue background. It looked strange, like a mass of oddly shaped objects. 

"Why do you carry that around with you?" Amity took it from him, cocking her head from side to side as she examined it. "Why doesn't it look like a skeleton? Is it called the Human Isles?"

"Earth, I think." 

"Huh." It was strange to look at this crayon drawing and think that this was where her human came from. "What else do you know about it?"

"How much time do you  _ have _ ?" Gus polished his nails on his cowl. "I'm an expert!"

She did have questions, she supposed. But so few were about humanity in general; she mostly wanted to know more about  _ Luz _ . Going red, she looked up, afraid to meet his eyes. "Do you know if Luz has dated other girls?"

"What."

She rubbed the back of her head. "You know what. It's fine."

"Oh  _ no _ . You're explaining that question. Why?"

"You can't make me do  _ anything _ ," she said, poking a finger into his chest.

Gus stared at her, unbothered. "Remind me, who's in my homeroom with me? For hours? Every day?" His eyes slowly moved to look at where the twins were creating what appeared to be a Slitherbeast illusion to chase each other around. Amity's eyes followed his. 

She stepped back. "Good point," she folded her arms. "Luz said I was the tallest girlfriend she'd ever had. I wanted to know how many girlfriends she'd had."

"I think that was a joke," Gus assured her. "Cuz you are! You're also the only girlfriend she's ever had. If she'd had another, you'd probably be the shortest."

"Your adjacency and access to both Luz and the twins has made you far too comfortable with me." Amity stretched up to her tallest. "I'm also much taller than Luz and Willow, let alone  _ you _ , so watch it."

"You are  _ cheating  _ technically," Gus pointed to the heel on her shoe. "That adds an entire extra inch, right?"

"Maybe you should try harder to grow," Amity replied, throwing him a withering look. Gus squeaked, which made her smile and ruined the effect. "But I'm  _ sure  _ I'm still taller than she is without my shoes. And taller than Willow. And definitely taller than you."

"Famous last words," Gus said, gravely. He drew a circle in the air, and his legs stretched to twice their normal length. He stood, teetering, towering over her. Amity shoved one of his stick legs, and he slipped and fell over. "Whoa!"

"Balance, Augustus."

"Aw, man." He shrank his legs back down, flopping at her side. She picked him back up, helped him to his feet. "Okay, okay. I get it. You're very tall and very scary."

"Bingo."

"And my very tall and scary friend."

This felt like a trap. But Gus was staring up at her with big eyes and she couldn't directly say no. "Yes.  _ Fine _ , I am your friend."

"And a great pal you are!" 

Gus was  _ holding out his arms _ . "Don't you dare."

"I wish I could stop," he sighed dramatically. "But you're my pal and you're in my hug zone. That means we legally have to have one - count 'em -  _ one _ friendship hug."

She did not summon an abomination to pick him up and throw him. She let Gus squeeze her and, although she would  _ never admit it to anyone ever _ , briefly rested her cheek on his hair, and patted his back once. "Okay. You need to let go. I don't need any more rumours spread about me."

"What kind of rumours would they spread?" Gus pulled back, eyes twinkling with wonder. "That you like hugs?"

She thought about this for a moment, eyes narrowed. "Yes, actually. I really don't want that spread."

Amity followed Luz home, as she did most days lately. "We're back!" Luz announced, opening the front door. King, Eda and Lilith were in the front room, gathered around what looked like a large sheet of paper pinned to one of the walls.

King ran to Luz, arms out. "Luz! We've been--" Lilith cleared her throat, stepping sideways in front of the paper they'd been gathered around. "It's a secret," he whispered. "We'll talk when YOU-KNOW-WHO isn't here!"

"You know who?" Luz was looking at him in confusion. "The bad guy in those knock-off magic school books?"

"Don't worry about it!" King jumped out of her arms, making a laugh that sounded a lot like  _ nyehehehehe _ as he ran off. Weird.

"It's fine," Eda said. "Lily--"

"We've _ talked _ about this," Lilith said, arms folded. Lilith and Amity locked eyes and she didn't understand why, but knew that the person Lilith was hiding things from was her. She reached for Luz's hand. "We'll finish this later," Lilith hissed to her sister. 

Dinner was equally awkward. Not as awkward as eating with her parents. But Lilith spent the meal sullen, occasionally arguing quietly with Eda, refusing to make eye contact with her. Amity stared at her furiously the entire meal, willing her to look over. 

Lilith had called her her protégé once. Where was that pride now?

Why was  _ Principal Bump _ the only adult in her life who seemed to be consistently proud of her?

Well, Eda too. As she and Luz cleared the plates and Lilith disappeared, Eda caught her wrist to hold her back until they were left alone. "Don't take it personally, kid," she said, pouring a glass of apple blood. "Lily's being overcautious."

_ About what? _ She wanted to ask. But if she had to ask, that meant she hadn't been trusted enough to be told about it. "Yeah," she said, curtly. "Sure."

Up in Luz's room, with their homework spread out before them, she tried to bring up Gus's questions. It was hard to think of the right way to frame them. How did one ask their girlfriend if there was an eldritch creature named Mother in their world? "Can I ask you something about the human world?"

"Of course!" Luz looked up from where she was attempting to note down every ingredient for a snake oil potion. "What do you need to know?"

Amity examined her own notes on how to firm up abomination goo. "What's Mother Day?"

"What?" Luz cocked her head to one side. "Do you mean Mother's Day?"

"Yeah. Gus said there was a day for a mother. Was...is that wrong?"

"Oh! Yeah, that's Mother's Day. It's in May," Luz noted down a few ingredients, and then smiled at her. "It's just something we do. We make cards and buy flowers and put together gifts to thank our mothers. Since I've only got mom, sometimes I get her stuff on father's day too."

"And father's day is for...fathers?"

"Yeah. Sometimes I make her a card then to say thanks for being both, you know?" Luz was concentrating on her paper, but no longer writing. "Once at school there was a dad and daughter dance. I kinda...I've always kinda been on my own because of, of stuff. I was kinda expecting to be all alone, but mami took the day off work and we ditched school and went out for chimichurris."

She folded the paper she was working on. "She works really hard in a hospital. I guess if she were here she'd be a, a healer? She's really good at her job. When I fell out of a tree while I was looking for spiders for my griffon taxidermy projects, she took me to hospital and made sure I got an x-ray." 

Amity didn't know what that was, but Luz wasn't looking at her. She was staring fixedly at the floor. Amity lay a hand on her back, ready to listen. "Tell me more about her."

"She's just great," Luz said. "She's not always on my side, but she's always supporting me. Any way she can think of. She drove me to book launches and waited in line with me to buy movie tickets super early in the morning. When she was on night shift I sometimes used to stay up to watch scary movies even though she told me not to. But she always let me sleep in her bed with her when she got home. And she never gets angry. She's always kind."

Her bottom lip was starting to tremble. Amity watched her, feeling awkward. "We've never really been apart for this long before. Not without being able to talk to each other. We're gonna hit May again soon and it's... It's gonna be my first Mother's Day without her. And I miss her. I miss my mom." Her eyes were filling up, overspilling. Luz was crying.

Amity felt a sudden flash of guilt and horror from asking. Scooting over, she wrapped an arm around her shoulders and said softly, because she couldn't think of what else to say, "You're not alone. You have Eda too." 

Luz looked up, wiping her eyes, and gave her a watery smile. "Yeah, I do. I do have Eda." She lay her head on Amity's shoulder. Her fingers went looking for Amity's; they squeezed each other's hands. "Eda isn't like Mami. Mami, my actual mom, she gets worried about me. I know why. She doesn't wanna lose me like she lost my dad. Eda lets me do all kinds of stuff and get into danger, but she's always waiting to save me from too much trouble. You know?" Luz turned their hands over, sighing, her shoulders shifting under Amity's arm. "She says she's not maternal, but she is. She loves me so much. And I love her. I guess I'm lucky," she murmured. "To have two moms."

Amity lifted the arm around Luz's shoulders to gently rest her hand in Luz's hair, letting Luz calm against her. What did Luz's mom look like? Did she smell like lemons too? Would they ever get to meet? That would be awkward.  _ Hello Ms Noceda I am a different species to your daughter from the demon realm and also I want to steal her away from your world and keep her for forever. You can come too if you want. _

She could burn that bridge when she came to it.

"What about you?" Luz asked. 

"Oh, we don't really have Mother's Day," Amity said. "We have Parent Recognition Moon."

"I meant more…" Luz looked at their hands again. Her ears were turning red. Amity kissed them automatically, feeling their warmth on her lips. "You don't really talk about your mom and dad. Would you like to?"

"Oh." It would be easy to refuse. But Luz was gazing up at her with those big brown eyes. Brown had become Amity's favourite colour. The deep amber-brown of Luz's eyes, the soft tone of her skin, the dark of her hair. "Hm. She's…"

When she thought of Odalia, she thought of someone towering over her. A hand like steel on her wrist. Edric and Emira were naturally gifted; she had to study to reach their level. Odalia had always insisted on that. A figure of authority, not the warmth Luz spoke of. 

"Harsh," was the adjective that came to mind first. Amity stared into the middle distance, trying to put the right words together. "She's in the oracle coven. So she's good at looking ahead and seeing where I won't live up to expectations. And then trying to fix that. I...often don't live up to her expectations." 

Luz was giving her a weird look.

"I mean! She's a great mom! She still makes my lunch herself when she's home! She just…" how to explain? "In a lot of the futures she sees, I disappoint her. I don't know how I can fix that."

"What!" Luz sounded...angry? "How are you disappointing? You're  _ Amity Blight _ ! Top student! Grom queen! One of the most talented people at Hexside!"

"I'm not exactly…" Luz's anger on her behalf was having a strange effect on her, like a pain deep inside. If she stared at the far wall blankly, maybe it would pass. "Edric and Emira are more naturally gifted than I am. So I have to work hard. Mom doesn't see a future where I can surpass them. She mostly sees…" how to put this? "Futures where I fail. Where I don't have the right connections. Where I don't have the power or the potential. Where I make the wrong choices. Where I bring shame to the family name. She saw the same path for Willow. She saw her struggling, and that was why I couldn't hang out with her."

"But she was wrong about Willow!" Luz burst out. "Willow's one of the strongest witches I know!"

"But she wasn't for a long time. She was called half-a-witch Willow because she couldn't keep up. It's only a matter of time before I fall short too. And I don't have another type of magic to fall back on like Willow does." She exhaled, looking at her hands. Sometimes it felt like there was a spring in her chest, winding tighter and tighter. Like it was ready to explode under pressure. Sometimes she only dreamed of her mother's disappointment. Every moment felt like waiting for something to go wrong, as though high scores were luck and she was waiting for the inevitable crash. Her entire being crushed under the weight of Odalia's expectations. "And that's what matters. Falling short. And I'm  _ always _ falling short. I know I'm behind her expectations. I know I don't know the spells she thinks I should. I don't have the grades she thinks I should. I am way behind where my father was when he was at school. So I have to keep working. I guess. I guess it's her way of showing she loves me. I just wish…" 

It was hard to explain  _ what _ she wished for. A lot of things were wheeling around in her head. All of the anxiety that she  _ would _ be the family fuck-up, the complete lack of comfort from either parent, the way her entire person had been subsumed and used as a tool for so long - even by Lilith who'd been her  _ mentor _ until she'd used her in the witch's duel and was now being so  _ weird _ . 

Mostly she wished she could be her own person. Was that too big to ask for? To be able to make her own choices. To be trusted.

Was that too much to ask for?

She didn't notice she was crying. Not until she felt Luz's arm around her shoulders, squeezing her. Then she felt the tears wet and warm on her face, a little shudder in her chest, and folded over. Luz caught her, and she buried her face into her shoulder. "I think I just want a chance to fail on my own. If I'm going to," she said, softly, into her girlfriend's ear. She hadn't wanted Luz to start crying again, but she could feel her shoulders shaking.

"I've got you," Luz whispered into her ear. She held her tight. "I've got you." 

She tried to calm herself, taking deep breaths. She felt silly for crying when her mom was here. Luz had a bigger reason to cry than she did. But Luz's arms were warm and solid, and there was another warm, calming sensation, a larger hug around her body. She was taking deep breaths when she heard Luz say, warningly, "Hooty!"

She lifted her head. The bird tube had slid in through the window and had  _ wrapped itself around both of them _ . "I'm helping!" It said, sing-song. Amity almost immediately began fighting for freedom. Its body was such a strange mixture of soft and rigid, but it did not enjoy being punched in the side. "I'm only trying to help! Sheesh!" It squawked, unwinding its horrible tube body from around them both. 

"No touching, remember Hooty?" Luz led it out of the window as Amity picked feathers off of her clothes. Oh, she'd end that bird one day. Luz was busy petting it as it left, head half-way out the window, the setting sun catching in her hair so that it glowed.

Amity gazed at the back of Luz's head as she shut her window, completely lovesick. And then leaned forward. "Hey, wait."

"What's wrong, Mittens?"

"Look--" she took a step forward, "Did you...have you grown some more?"

"Huh?" Luz placed her hand on the top of her head and measured out the space between them. She was still a few centimeters shorter. But the gap had grown smaller. "Oh! Looks like it!" Why did  _ that _ bother her? She did secretly like being taller. It helped with all of her secret burst-in-to-rescue-Luz-from-danger fantasies, where she was immensely tall and strong and powerful.  _ Dammit Gus _ ! He'd put the idea that one day she might be shorter than Luz in her head and that didn't fit comfortably at all. "Oh! Wait, does this mean that if you took off your shoes we're the same height? Gus mentioned you have heels to make yourself taller."

That  _ traitor! _ "I do not!"

Luz kissed her forehead, which downgraded Gus's status from 'traitorous villain' to 'not so bad' in her mind. He had indirectly caused forehead kisses. He could live. For now. "That's fine," Luz said. "You're still the tallest girlfriend I've ever had."

"That  _ really _ shouldn't feel as good as it does."

The mother talk had brought the mood down, so they brought it back up with textbooks and homework, because of course they did. Luz was a huge nerd and Amity was just as nerdy as she was, in different directions. They studied long enough that they had to start a few light glyphs to see, and they ran out of homework and had started on new books. 

Her parents were still gone, so it was easy to make the decision to stay at the Owl House overnight instead of walking back to Blight Manor. Luz took her hair down for her, and they curled up together in the human nest, taking it in turns to read the first Azura book to each other. Downstairs, she could hear Lilith and Eda still talking, occasional interjections from King. She could ignore Lilith rejecting her for now. Having Luz's full attention was much better than that.

As the night grew in and Lilith and Eda's low voices fell silent, as the house grew soft (aside from Hooty's night noises) and Luz curled up under her arm, dozing off mid-sentence, Amity thought about their conversation. She'd said something, something about Odalia. 

_ She was wrong about Willow! _

That was true. Her mother had never foreseen a future where Willow was as powerful as she was now. That was strange. What could've changed her path? She was drifting off, her cheek on Luz's head, an overlarge  _ Bad Girls Coven _ t-shirt on her like pyjamas as her brain tried to make sense of that. Willow had been in the Abomination track, something she struggled with. Her natural aptitude had always lain elsewhere. She was a late bloomer for blooming. How had she gotten moved and been allowed to grow further?

Principal Bump had seen her abilities with plants. Had taken mercy on her, not sent her to detention for mixing magic. That was it. An act of pure chance had derailed the future - the  _ lack  _ of future - Odalia had foreseen for her. 

An act of chance. It had been an act of chance that had let Willow meet Luz before class. An act of chance that Willow - usually so sensible - had let Luz lead her into a plan that was absolutely the  _ dumbest _ thing.

So in reality, the person who'd changed Willow's future for the better had been…

"Luz?"

"Mmmph," came the noise from somewhere down at her side. "Mmmmmowcanhelpyou?"

"Have I changed? Since we met?"

Luz looked up, blinking, rubbing her eyes. "Um. Maybe? I think so. To be honest, I think maybe," she stretched. "I dunno, I only saw a little bit of you as a little kid in Willow's memories, but you seemed so cute and happy. I think maybe you're going back to that a bit. Now you're less angry and stuff."

"And stuff." She laid her cheek back on Luz's head. She thought of Otabin in the library again. Luz reached up and touched her cheek, and she felt her brain stop finally, the cogs stilling. Her hand shifted, moving to the little strip of skin visible between Luz's shirt and shorts. 

"Tiny hands," Luz said, enfolding one of them in her own. "My only weakness."

"My hands are not  _ that _ small." 

"My girl has lil hands and lil feet."

That sounded suspiciously close to a height comment. "Have you been talking to Gus?"

"I talk to him all the time, we're best friends."

"No, I mean about-- nevermind."

"Are you and Gus bonding and sharing secrets?" There was a smile in her voice. Amity groaned. Leaning down, she breathed in Luz's scent; lemons and something else. Unmistakably her. There were so many things she loved Luz for: her ability to think on her feet, how she jumped into everything head first, her big heart, her rambling way of talking about things she was  _ super _ excited about, how she wore her heart on her sleeve and so many other uncountable reasons. Somehow lemons had come to represent something not bitter, but light and sweet. Seeing a simple lemon tart would make her smile for hours. Love was strange. 

She opened her mouth against the round of Luz's ear and felt her grow suddenly stiff in her arms, both hands moving up to grip the sheets. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Luz said, far too quickly. "I just-- I forgot you had--"

"Hm?" When she leaned to look, Luz was curled up, staring straight ahead, deeply red. "What's wrong?"

"Forgot you had fangs! That's all!"

"Did I hurt you?" Worry was growing inside her. She gave her human the barest of squeezes, cupping her face to check her expression. Luz leaned back into her. "Are you alright?" 

"Nope! Didn't hurt me!" 

"You look like you're going to pass out."

"I'm not! I'm totally fine! Nothing weird happening here!" Her entire face was red.

Amity gazed at her, mildly suspicious. And then leaned in and did the same again. On purpose this time. Opened her mouth and let the point of her fangs scrape against the skin of Luz's ear. It hadn't seemed possible for her human to get even tenser, but she did, a sharp inhale, face so red it almost glowed, body tight like a spring in her arms. For a moment, she stared in a mix of confusion and wonder. And then she realised what was happening. " _ Oh _ ." Below her, Luz swallowed. Amity leaned in and kissed her cheek and said, softly, "I really like having this power."

Luz actually laughed, shakily. Her hand reached down to cover Amity's again, a strange heat in her body. Amity kissed her a second time and was tempted to experiment further. How would she respond to being pressed down into the floor, to fangs against her neck? What would happen if she actually  _ bit down _ on that soft human skin? 

...But then they'd agreed, hadn't they? They'd have a conversation before anything else, before going any further. She'd told her she was fine with just this for now. Curiosity couldn't overrule that. She moved her next kiss to Luz's forehead, and decided she'd leave those thoughts for exploration the next time she was all alone during peak yearning hours. For now, she gathered up her red faced girlfriend and scooped her, resting her against her chest. "So strong," Luz whispered, and she felt fireworks go off somewhere deep inside. 

"Go to sleep, you dork."

"Dork you  _ love _ ," Luz replied, in a sing-song voice and kissed her jaw before settling in, head against her chest. "Dork you wanna  _ kiss _ ."

"Dork who gets turned on by fangs?"

"Come on, you know my ears are sensitive." Luz leaned up to kiss her, tongue slipping out to touch the fangs in question. She was being very magnanimous, Amity thought, kissing back, in not bringing up the time she'd told her  _ good girl _ and Amity had fully stopped breathing.

"Go to sleep," she said, smiling as the kiss ended. 

"I will! I will. I'm just getting settled! You have no idea what you do to my systems, okay!" Luz lay her head back down, nuzzling against Amity's neck. 

Amity stroked her hair, and when she felt her human's breathing start to even out, reached down to cup Luz's chin in her hand, whispered " _ My human _ ," and felt Luz's breath hitch. "Again?"

"Mhm," came the small, shaken response.

"At least I'll know what to do when the time comes," she laughed into her girlfriend's hair, kissed the top of her head. 

In the morning, she came down first. It gave Luz enough time to check her schedule for the hundredth time and worry over which textbooks she needed for which periods. As interesting as studying other tracks seemed, Amity was thankful that studying the single one seemed to involve a lot less scheduling issues. Eda and Lilith were murmuring in the kitchen.

"You're overthinking this."

"You're underthinking it, Eda. I should know! They're almost certainly going to conscript--" Lilith stopped mid-sentence, apparently cognisant of Amity's presence. Amity took a breath and stepped into the kitchen. Lilith pointed to her sister. "We'll finish this  _ later _ ," she hissed and marched out.

Eda sat down heavily in a chair and sighed. "Proper prissy Lily," she said, but there was a trace of fondness in her voice. "Sit down, kid."

She sat down, mostly because she didn't want to follow Lilith out. "I don't know why she suddenly doesn't like me."

"Like I said, don't take it personally. I don't think it's that she doesn't like you." Eda poured a glass of apple blood and slid it down the counter to her. "I'd say it's because you remind her of herself."

"I'm not that suspicious," she mumbled. She looked at the cup of red, and frowned. "Does Lilith...does she dye her hair?"

"Good eye," Eda did the finger guns thing at her again. "Spotted her roots, huh? Here was me thinking she'd gone grey after all this time, and that was why the blue. But no, she's just hiding the hot Clawthorne hair! Yeah, she's a spicy red head. Just like me, when I was younger." She tossed her hair.

"So you're the...older sibling?"

"You just keep throwing spears right into my heart, huh?"

Oops. She took a sip of apple blood and immediately grimaced. "What  _ is _ this?"

"Huh?" Eda looked between their drinks. "Aw, dagnabbit, I gave you mine. Here," she swapped their cups. "Sorry kiddo. Anyway, Lily's my older sister. She made a few mistakes when we were younger." She cleared her throat, fingers flexing into a fist. " _ Quite _ a few mistakes. The reason she's being so weird around you is that she…" Eda seemed to consider her words carefully. "She sees you as being a lot like her. She doesn't want you to make the same mistakes she did."

Amity felt a pit open up in her stomach as she stared into the apple blood. "A lot of people seem to think I'm on the precipice of making a bunch of mistakes," she said, voice ice. 

"Yep," Eda agreed, taking a long drink of her apple blood. "I think you'll make mistakes too." Amity threw her a furious look. Eda didn't give her anything to work with. "Who cares if you do?" She prompted.

"Lilith,  _ apparently _ ."

"So what? Why is what Lilith thinks so important?"

"Because-- because she was my  _ mentor _ , I was her protégé!"

" _One_ of her protégés," Eda rested her chin on her hand. "What did she teach you?"

"Well she-- she offered support! And guidance! And…"

"Embarrassed you in front of the Convention," Eda prompted. Amity deflated. "She let you down a while ago." The older witch leaned back in her chair, sipping her drink. "So why do you care what she thinks of you?"

"I don't know."

"People who want to stop you from making the same mistakes they did are overprotective and smothering. Plus, they suck. You know, in general. Eugh, so controlling." Amity was slumping her shoulders, elbows on the counter, head down. Why did she  _ care _ ? Eda lay her hand on her arm, squeezing it. "It's better to make your own mistakes, kiddo. You know why?"

"Why?"

"Because you learn what not to do. Plus, you always learn more fixing the mistake than you ever would've if  _ someone _ stopped you from making the mistake in the first place. If you  _ have _ to fix it. You can also learn a lot by fleeing the scene! Like which cops know where you live." Eda squeezed her arm again, and she couldn't help but laugh, just a little bit. "My sister is bad at showing she cares. But she's trying to keep you from a choice she thinks will lead to you making a similar mistake to one she made a long time ago. You'll find out everything soon enough. I guess it's her way of showing she cares."

"What was the mistake?"

"What am I, the Lilith interpreter? That's her story to tell." Eda patted her head, ruffling her hair out of place. "You forgot your ponytail." Oh, shoot. She fumbled for her hair tie, going red. Luz had given it to her last night before they'd fallen asleep. Where was it? Eda drew a circle in the air and a hair tie appeared, magically generated. It tied her hair back neatly, repairing the ruffling that Eda had done moments ago. "Hey," she said. "Kid. I said you were always welcome."

"You did," Amity said, peering into her drink, face blazingly red. This would be a  _ I know you were biting the human last night and you are no longer invited back _ talk.

"I mean it," Eda said, and her tone was strangely serious. "Really. Whatever happens over the next few months. However long you need to stay. Even if it's forever." She considered this. "Well, as long as you stop giving Hooty nightmares."

"I can't promise that."

"That's fine," Eda rested her hand on her shoulder, looking into her eyes. "Something big is going to happen soon. I don't know what's going to happen. But I know things aren't going to be the same. And I have no idea which side of the fence you or your family will land on. But you're always welcome to join the Bad Girls Coven. Here," she held out a hand and Owlbert dropped something into it. "A shirt of your own. So you don't have to steal our spares for jammies every time you visit."

Amity smiled softly, despite herself, and took it. Tears pricked her eyes. She willed them away. "I guess it  _ is _ the coven with the most powerful witches in it," she said, quietly.

"Oh yeah," Eda slapped her back. "You just wait! We'll be pretty unstoppable soon." She held out her mug and cheersed it against Amity's. Amity accepted the toast, and took a deep drink...and almost immediately spat it out, spluttering. "What?" Eda sniffed it. "Damn, I put vodka in both of these? Mama was feeling spicy."

The extra t-shirt in her bag made her feel oddly self-conscious. It was all she could think about in class, during her debrief with Gus ("wait, so Mother Day is just Parent Recognition Moon? But only for moms?") and during the walk back to the empty manor with Ed and Em. 

("Actually coming home for once?" Ed teased.

"For the whole night?" Em asked, elbowing her.)

Their parents were still gone. Expected. Amity had been starting the walk up to her room when Ed had said, "hey, there's a note from mom."

"Is it money so we can order dinner?" Em asked. Amity held her bag close, and tried to slip away, carefully stepping past the twins, stepping on the edges of the stairs, where she knew the wood wouldn't creak.

"No, it says…" Ed frowned. There was a note of strange seriousness in his voice. He read it a few times. "It says the emperor's coven is moving, and a few of his loyalists have been asked to volunteer to aid His Imperial Majesty. I don't know what  _ that _ means, other than mom and dad won't be home til the weekend." He turned the card over. "And Mittens has a pop quiz tomorrow that she'll fail if she doesn't study."

Her ears went bright red as her siblings looked at her, halfway up the stairs. She turned back to them, and Ed shrugged. "I doubt you'll fail it," Emira said, kindly. "She used to write notes like that to us all the time."

"She stops once you have enough prizes under your belt," Ed added, drawing a circle in mid-air to stretch out his arm long enough so that he could reach to ruffle her hair. 

She pushed his hand away. "I'd better go study in that case," she said, colder than she needed to be, and swept off to her room, kicking off her shoes outside of her door.

Flopping onto her bed, she looked up at the ceiling. Something was happening, Ed's had said. Something nobody wanted to talk to her about. The atmosphere was heavy, the way the heat seemed to form a dome over the world right before the skies broke and boiling rain fell. The emperor's coven was moving. Her parents were disappearing for longer and longer. Lilith was making plans. And Eda was speaking of making mistakes, the same mistakes as Lilith.

She drew the Bad Girls Coven shirt out of her bag, and held it to her chest. There was something in it, something extra folded inside the shirt. She unrolled it and found herself looking at a pair of socks. Orange, light orange, white, light pink, pink. The same stripes as the cloak Luz had made her. Tucked inside one was a note.  _ Forgot to tell you! We made you these! OR I knitted them and King held the yarn. Te quiero!  _ A tiny drawing of Luz holding up a peace sign at the bottom. 

Very carefully, she pinned the note by the head of her bed. Somewhere she could see it, but where it could be hidden by pillows. And then she held the socks and the shirt to her face, any agitation melting away at the knowledge that she was so loved, that she loved someone as kind and thoughtful as Luz. 

_ Maybe this would all be alright. _ She looked out of the window, trying not to think about what would happen if the full might of the empire fell down on Luz and Eda. When her thoughts kept returning to that, she pulled on the socks and put the shirt on over her school uniform. That felt better, like a talisman against bad things.

Her scroll buzzed. She checked it. 

Gus.  _ Now that we've cracked the code of mother day, we can surely work out what Labour Day is and why humans can't wear white after it! ❤️💪 Human anthropologist team! _

She smiled, and didn't mean to. Typed back,  _ Sure. But we need a better team name. _

It buzzed again. EBlight420:  _ bb we ordered pizza and if you're not careful we'll eat it all without you _ .

"What?! That's not fair! I didn't hear the door!" 

"You snooze, you lose!" Edric shouted from downstairs. 

She raced down to meet them, only to find that they'd saved her a bit. If they had questions about her shirt or her socks, they didn't ask. A few slices later, while Ed and Em were bickering over whether or not pizza was better without cheese ("I can't believe we have to order it cheeseless because of  _ your _ weakness--" "cheese is overrated and brings so little to the party!"), she leaned back in her chair and asked, "When did mom start to like you?"

She hadn't meant to ask it like that. Not so suddenly. The twins exchanged looks. Ed swallowed what he'd been eating and reached for another slice. Em stopped him. "What do you mean?" 

"The notes. The choosing friends. The pressure." She put her chin on her hand. "The...hair dye. When did she stop doing that to you?"

Em reached over and squeezed her hand. "It doesn't stop," she said, and that made her stomach drop. "Except for the hair dye. She's never dyed our hair."

"It gets easier to ignore," Ed added, tomato sauce smeared on his cheek. "Plus, neither mom or dad were illusion track. They're not holding us up to the standards  _ they _ set at school."

That was true. For every vision Odalia had of her failing, Amity also had one of Alador Blight's school records to smash. Largest abomination. Best looking abomination. Most abominations summoned at once. Most bones in an abomination. His control and power were legendary. There were still trophies dedicated to him in the cabinets that lined the school corridors.

(Well. Willow at least had him beat in the 'best looking abomination' category.)

"Guess I'm just doomed as long as I live here," she said, trying for light and sounding beaten.

The twins shared a look over her head. "Say," said Ed. "I hear you've been plotting with Gus for use of his illusion magic. I bet we could help."

"Oh, sure," Em shrugged. "Between us, we'll have mom and dad chasing around an illusion of you for the next month if you want."

That was nice. She put her hands down on the table and nodded. She meant to say,  _ thank you, I'd like that.  _ And instead said, "Do you think we'll ever get out of here?" 

"Sure," Ed nodded firmly. "We're going to rent an apartment together forever."

"No we're not." Said Em.

"And be best pals for eternity."

"My worst nightmare." 

"In a year and a bit!" Ed finished, triumphant. "When we graduate!"

Amity folded a slice of pizza and put it back on Ed's plate. He stuffed it into his mouth. "Then I guess I just have…three and a bit years to get through, huh?"

"It'll be over before you know it," Em said. "Then you can join the emperor's coven and get your own place!"

She looked down at her shirt. Remembered what Eda had said.  _ You're always welcome at the Owl House _ . 

"Why does the cartoon on your shirt look like the Owl Lady surfing?" Ed asked, through a mouthful of pizza. 

"I'm not so hungry anymore," she said, pushing away from the table. "I'd better finish studying."

They didn't follow her. So she didn't go back to the books. Instead she pulled a bag down from inside her cupboard. It was one she'd used a while ago, for an overnight visit to another school for a grudgby match. She boiled down her possessions, need vs want, and began to pack them. 

Her fingers hesitated over the cloak Luz had gotten her. She didn't  _ need _ to go now. Ed and Em had told her they'd help cover for her. She still had things to do. Lilith was still being weird. Their parents were gone, which gave them more freedom.

Like it or not, she couldn't just  _ leave _ , not on something as flimsy as  _ Mom is overprotective _ .

Amity left the bag half-packed, hidden, easy to reach, and crossed over to her windowsill. She peered out at what she could see of the Boiling Isles, and wondered where her mother was, what her mother thought of her now. Was she somewhere in the bowels of the emperor's castle, peering into dozens of futures? How many of them did she see Amity failing in?

All of them, probably.

Her scroll buzzed again. Willow this time. No text. They weren't quite on that level. Just a picture of Luz laughing with Gus about something, cartoons of apple blood in front of them. 

It was hard to stay anxious, to want to flee in the night, when there was evidence that things were better. That there was something brighter within reach. 

She replied with a quick,  _ Thanks. _

There was a better world waiting. Three years wasn't long to wait. She could do that. She looked at the photo again. Three years. 

She could deal with her mother for three years. And then she'd take Eda up on her offer. 

Three years.

This would be okay.


End file.
